The move puts the company at the heart of a burgeoning auto industry precinct that already has Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Mazda, Renault, Haval, Jayco, Robert Bosch and Repco.
Nissan’s new corporate headquarters, in the Mulgrave estate of Welington Place, is within Monash’s National Employment and Innovation cluster, Melbourne’s largest concentration of employment outside the CBD.
The building, at the corner of Wellington Road and Peters Avenue, is a prominent glass structure with views of the Dandenong Ranges and Port Phillip Bay from the upper levels.
It is built to achieve a Five-Star level of the Green Star Design & As Built v1 certified rating from the Green Building Council of Australia.
It covers 11,816 square metres over five levels and has an office area of 9616 square metres, including a 1348-square-metre showroom and training rooms. There is also a 2200-square-metre workshop, 550 car parking bays and a ground floor cafe.
There is additional space of about 5850 square metres for future leasable offices in the top three levels.
The building will house Nissan’s marketing, sales and customer service departments, Nissan Financial Services Australia, the Victorian regional office and technical training.
Nissan sold its 11.4-hectare Dandenong premises in September 2017 to a private Victorian property group for an estimated $35 million.
That property has a two-storey office and three separate warehouse facilities – covering 27,584 square metres – on two titles.
Nissan Australia chief financial officer Stephen Hope said in 2017 that the primary reason for the sale was the conflict of insufficient office space for growing staff numbers and the move of the parts warehouse facility to CEVA Logistics’ facility in Truganina.
He said there were no plans “at this time” for Renault and Mitsubishi head office to share space with Nissan in the new building.
Mitsubishi has since announced it will remain in Adelaide and is close to completing a new headquarters, while Renault remains at its own office in Nexus Court, Mulgrave.
The completion of Nissan Australia’s new headquarters also marks the finalisation of Stage One in the Wellington Place business park in Melbourne’s south east. The estate was developed by joint venture partners, Frasers Property Industrial and ESR Australia.
Nissan Australia managing director Stephen Lester said: “We are delighted to relocate to new premises in Mulgrave, with modern facilities to support our staff and facilitate the training programs for our national dealer network.”
Frasers Property Industrial general manager for the southern region, Anthony Maugeri, said the south-east office precinct was continuing to grow as Melbourne’s automotive heart with many auto brands located in the surrounding areas.
“Wellington Place, with planned industry-leading amenity, is set to continue to attract large commercial occupiers,” he said.
ESR Australia CEO Phil Pearce said with the completion of Wellington Place Stage One, the focus of the development moves to converting a heritage building in the centre of the estate into amenity.
“We have recently received strong interest from tenants currently located in Melbourne’s CBD,” Mr Pearce said.
“These businesses recognise the opportunity to decentralise, reducing their costs while still providing premium office accommodation for their staff, supported by generous parking ratios and superior amenities.”
The joint venture purchased the 4.67-hectare Wellington Place site and Nissan became anchor tenant for the first stage. This site has received planning approval for approximately 60,000 square metres of commercial space, 880 square metres of café/retail area and 2582 car spaces.
A 2000-square-metre community hub is also envisaged as incorporating a café, gymnasium, restaurant, childcare, activated outdoor open space and more.
Wellington Place is expected to have an end value of $400 million when completed. It is on the south side of Wellington Road, west of the Springvale Road intersection and has a frontage to Peters Avenue.
It is situated within close proximity to major arterials including Springvale and Wellington Roads, both of which provide access to Monash Freeway (1.3 kilometres), Eastlink and Princes Highway. Melbourne’s CBD is 22km away.
By Neil Dowling
